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Recent Research from Maastricht University Highlight Findings in Healthcare Management (Varying Opinions on Who Deserves Collectively Financed Health…

Health & Medicine Week

Recent Research from Maastricht University Highlight Findings in Healthcare Management (Varying Opinions on Who Deserves Collectively Financed Health Care Services: A Discrete Choice Experiment on Allocation Preferences of the General Public)

By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Health & Medicine Week -- A new study on Health and Medicine - Healthcare Management is now available. According to news reporting out of Maastricht, Netherlands, by NewsRx editors, research stated, "In Europe, health insurance arrangements are under reform. These arrangements redistribute collectively financed resources to ensure access to health care for all."

Our news journalists obtained a quote from the research from Maastricht University, "Allocation of health services is historically based on medical needs, but use of other criteria, such as lifestyle, is debated upon. Does the general public also have preferences for conditional allocation? This depends on their opinions regarding deservingness. The aim of this study was to gain insight in those opinions, specifically by examining the perceived weight of different criteria in allocation decisions. Based on literature and expert interviews, we included 5 criteria in a discrete choice experiment: need, financial capacity, lifestyle, cooperation with treatment, and package/premium choice. A representative sample of the Dutch population was invited to participate (n = 10760). A total of 774 people accessed the questionnaire (7.2%), of whom 375 completed it (48.4%). Medical need was overall the most important criterion in determining deservingness (range beta = 1.60). Perceived deservingness decreased if claimants had higher financial capacity (1.26) and unhealthier lifestyle (1.04), if their cooperation was less optimal (1.05), or if they had opted for less insurance coverage (0.56)."

According to the news editors, the research concluded: "However, preferences vary among respondents, in relation to demographic and ideological factors."